


Child of the Future

by vivvav



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: AFR Universe, F/M, Hanami Amamiya-Niijima, Jun Mifune
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-08-21 15:20:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16579073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vivvav/pseuds/vivvav
Summary: It's hardly a fairy tale romance, but Yusuke and Chihaya's unconventional relationship results in something magical anyway.





	Child of the Future

It all began, as many things in Yusuke’s life did, with a painting. More specifically, a mural. Ann had befriended a fortuneteller named Chihaya Mifune through Ren, and was helping the slightly-older girl design the interior of her new psychic parlor. When Chihaya stated she wanted a mural, Ann referred her to Yusuke, and the hurting-for-money seer made him an offer: Yusuke would paint an entire wall of Chihaya’s shop for only 20,000 yen, but Chihaya would buy him lunch every day he worked on the project. Still unaccustomed to accepting any form of payment for his work, Yusuke enthusiastically accepted the deal.

Chihaya certainly got more than her money’s worth. Yusuke did not paint just one image, but a tapestry of 22 images, detailing the Fool’s journey through the other 21 major arcana. First was an image of the Fool alone, each subsequent image displaying the Fool interacting with the subject of the next card, and ending with the Fool taking a peaceful nap on top of the world. It took Yusuke a month to complete the piece, and while he insisted he not be distracted during the artistic process, he and Chihaya became close friends over conversations held during Yusuke’s lunch breaks.

“Is the future beautiful?” Yusuke asked. He was sitting on the floor, his back to his work-in-progress, having nearly finished the convenience store bento Chihaya had provided for him. Chihaya herself was seated at the old table she still had from her days telling fortunes on the street, electing to wait to replace it until such a time wet paint was no longer present in her store.

“Your future?” Chihaya took her tarot deck out of her bag. “I could do a reading if you’d like, Yusuke-San.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Oh.” Chihaya put her deck away. “Then what did you mean?”

“When you focus upon events to come, what does it look like?” Yusuke stared up at the ceiling. “Does time yet to come have a color? Or is it perhaps blurry, obscured as if behind a frosted-over window pane? Or do you see things not of this world when you gaze upon tomorrow, which are more beautiful than can be imagined by man?”

“Nothing so grand, I’m afraid.” Chihaya looked up and fixated on the same random spot of ceiling Yusuke’s eyes were focused on. “I don’t see the future with my eyes. I get brief visions. Flashes of things that have, are, and will happen. It’s more like having a momentary imagining of things that are or could be real.”

“Ah…” Yusuke closed his eyes. “So it’s not like a painting, then.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“Oh?” Yusuke opened his eyes and looked down to Chihaya, who he found was staring right back at him.

“The future isn’t set in stone. Once you see it, you can do things to change it. Perhaps it isn’t like beholding a painting on a museum wall, but I’d like to think that it’s like a painting we create with our own actions.”

“Ah.” Yusuke smiled. “Intriguing. Perhaps the lives we lead are the greatest art we create, more than any painting ever could be.”

“I wouldn’t know” Chihaya said. “I’ve never actually been to a museum before.”

“WHAT!?” Yusuke shot up from the ground. “WE MUST RECTIFY THIS AT ONCE!”

In actuality, the two did not leave for a museum immediately, but Chihaya did agree to let Yusuke bring her to a gallery several days later. She took a real interest in the works on display too, making astute observations about what the painters must have been feeling when crafting their works. It was gratifying to spend some time with somebody who was able to appreciate art fully for a change. Yes, some of Yusuke’s friends made an effort. Haru had an appreciation for the techniques employed, Makoto took an academic interest in the history of works, and Ren at least tried to engage with art even if he didn’t have much to say about it, but it wasn’t the same. With Chihaya, Yusuke found somebody he could have meaningful conversations about art with.

Really, Chihaya was somebody Yusuke could have meaningful conversations with period. He could tell that she found him a little odd, as most did, but she at least had the grace not to treat him as such. Chihaya Mifune actually listened to Yusuke, engaged with his words, provided thoughtful reactions to whatever notions he vocalized, and just treated him more kindly than most people, even his friends. All that combined with the fact that she was but two years his elder, and it was no wonder that Yusuke found himself attracted to her, not just physically (although he did find her beautiful, there was no question of that), but emotionally. And given how she seemed to have similar feelings towards him, it was no surprise when the two finally gave in to their passions and shared a night of intimacy together.

At least, it came as no surprise to Yusuke. Ren and Ann both reacted with a fair amount of shock, though they got over it quickly enough. And Yusuke and Chihaya would spend many more intimate moments together, although they never put a label on it. While Chihaya held a special place in Yusuke’s heart, certainly something he didn’t hesitate to call ‘love’, Yusuke’s journey into adulthood and travels around the world in pursuit of art taught him many things about himself. Chiefly that he wasn’t the type to settle down with one person, and there was room in his heart for many lovers, regardless of gender. Yusuke Kitagawa had romantic adventures all over the globe, but Chihaya Mifune would always stand out as his first and most regular partner. And for Chihaya’s part, she understood this perfectly. As fond as she was of Yusuke, she was under no illusion that he could be kept as hers and hers alone, and while she didn’t have a whirlwind of affairs like he did, she had other partners on occasion as well. And so their relationship was for a decade, life moving on, personal and professional affairs tended to, with the odd night of loving fun mixed in when time could be made.

* * *

It was a hot day in July when Ren received a call from Chihaya. Life had become hectic between Ren’s career and Makoto about to enter the fifth month of her pregnancy, but it had been a very long time since he’d actually seen Chihaya, and there was no way he could ignore how worried she sounded. And so, ever willing to bend over backwards for his friends, Ren made time to visit Chihaya at her apartment.

“Thank you for coming, Ren-San.” Chihaya took a sip from a glass of tea nervously, her hands shaking the whole time, a few drops of water missing her mouth entirely and rolling down her face. “I appreciate you making the time to see me.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Ren smiled at Chihaya, trying to defuse the tension. “I’d much rather spend an evening with you than in some dull phone call with somebody trying to bribe me.”

“How is Makoto-San? Is she in good health?”

“Oh yeah. She’s not as active as she’d like to be, but she’s still got plenty of energy. And she hasn’t really been asking me to do much extra for her. Even her pregnancy cravings are pretty manageable. All I have to do is keep a shelf of our fridge stocked with pickle jars and she’s happy.” Ren cleared his throat. “But I’m sure you didn’t ask me here to talk about Makoto’s pregnancy.”

“No,” Chihaya mumbled. “Not hers.”

“Hm?”

“I suppose I should just come out and say it.” Chihaya took a deep breath and stared into Ren’s eyes. “I’ve just learned that I’m pregnant, Ren-San.”

“Congratulations!” Ren’s face lit up. “You must be so excited! I’m sure that you and… Um…” Ren came back to earth, realizing that Chihaya was not treating this like a joyous event, and the pieces began to fall into place in his mind. “Do you know who the father is?”

“I believe so.” Chihaya bit her lip. “But it’s a complicated situation.”

“I see.” Ren laced his fingers together. “Do you not want the baby?”

“I’m certainly not against being a mother. But I’m not certain how the father’s going to react.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because the father is Yusuke-San.”

“YUSUKE!?” Ren lurched backwards in his chair, almost toppling over. “Are you sure about that!?”

“Well, my physician says I’m about one month pregnant, and the last person I went to bed with was Yusuke-San about a month ago, so I believe so.”

“And you haven’t told him yet.”

“I’m not sure how to broach the subject.” Chihaya stared down at the table. “Or if I should even tell him at all.”

“Why wouldn’t you?” Ren leaned forward. “It’s one thing if you’re planning on getting an abortion, but if you want to keep the baby, don’t you think Yusuke should know?”

“Should he?” Chihaya’s eyes darted around the room, trying to focus on anything but Ren. “Yusuke-San lives this exciting global lifestyle. He sequesters himself in studios for days at a time and flies to different countries to find inspiration and enjoy all manner of company. I can’t ask him to change all of that because of a defective condom.”

“So you’re going to raise the child by yourself?” Ren frowned. “Are you sure you’re prepared for that?”

“Well, money would be a little tight, but my shop is doing well enough right now…” Chihaya’s words carried a tone of uncertainty.

“Well there’s a reason to tell Yusuke right there.” Ren folded his arms. “Child support.”

“But do you think Yusuke-San would really want to marry me?” Chihaya’s brow knit. “I’ve certainly never disliked him, but I never felt like that was the path the two of us were going-“

“Who said anything about marriage? I said you should have him pay child support.”

“But Yusuke-San is always so short of money.”

“What!?” Ren broke out into laughter. “Are you serious right now!? Yusuke hasn’t been a starving artist for ten years! He’s internationally renowned and raking in the cash!”

“No he ain’t!” Chihaya slipped into her country accent. “Yusuke-San’s poorer’n… Uh… Wait a second…” Chihaya’s eyes widened. “By gum, you’re right! How’d I go an’ forget somethin’ like that!?”

“Ah…” Ren leaned back in his chair. “I think I see the problem.”

“You do?” Chihaya’s speech returned to normal. “What is it?”

“First impressions are really strong” Ren said with a smile. “Even if we’ve known someone for years and watched them grow, we tend to think of them as how we first met them.” Ren pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “When my eyesight started to get a little fuzzy, Makoto was weirdly relieved. Even though she’d known me longer without glasses than the year I wore the fake ones, seeing me in glasses just seems more right to her. I know I feel similarly about some of my friends, and I think you look at Yusuke and see the 18-year-old you paid in meals to paint your shop instead of the man he’s become.”

“So you think I should tell Yusuke-San about this and not get an abortion?”

“It’s not really my place to say.” Ren shook his head. “It’s your body that’s pregnant, so it’s your choice. And how you want to raise the child you give birth to is your decision too.”

“Oh come on.” Chihaya scowled at Ren. “You’ve got to have some opinion.”

“Well, yeah. I think Yusuke would take it well. And I think he’d want to be involved in his child’s life if he knew he was having one. And I think it’d be easiest for your child to know both of their parents, especially since you two are on friendly terms. It’s not going to be a situation where the parents are divorced and it’s rough for them.”

“Her” Chihaya said.

“What?”

“I looked at the cards.” Chihaya smiled and looked down at her stomach. “It’s a girl.”

“Well then.” Ren stared at Chihaya’s stomach. “I think it’d be good for her to know her father.”

* * *

Jun Mifune was born on the morning of March 14th, 2028. At the time, Ryuji joked about the baby being Yusuke’s White Day gift to Chihaya, but he was quickly shut down by a choir of female voices saying that if anything it was a gift from Chihaya to Yusuke and now he owed her big time. Not that Chihaya and Yusuke were terribly concerned with the relationship calculus their friends had engaged in. The two of them were just happy that the baby was healthy. The girl took after her mother, with purple eyes and dirty-blonde hair. Although the way Yusuke bent over, his face not even inches from Jun’s, his eye scrutinizing every inch of the child, one would think there was a treasure trove of secrets hidden just under her skin.

“I was wrong the whole time” Yusuke said.

“About what?” Chihaya asked. 

“Everything.” Yusuke stood up straight and removed his monocle, polishing it.

“Do you think you could be a bit more specific?” Chihaya didn’t have the energy to slip back into her original accent, but she wasn’t exactly in the mood for Yusuke’s ordinary obtuseness either.

“My whole life, I have pursued art. Thought it the highest thing any human could produce. That all the world had to offer could be condensed and put between a frame, but only by the most insightful and worthy minds that lived in it. Even treasured moments with others were inspiration as much as they were experiences worth living.” Yusuke re-donned his monocle and stared at Jun in awe. “But now I see. There could never be a painting as beautiful as this. We make art so we may experience a facsimile of this feeling, ever in pursuit of the greatest life can give us, but which we cannot always have.”

“Well, would you like to hold the little beauty?” Chihaya held up Jun. “One thing babies have over paintings is that you won’t ruin them by touching them.”

“That goes without saying.” Yusuke took Jun from Chihaya, holding the babe close to his chest. In that moment, everything else in his life was so small. His art, his travels, his adventures as a Phantom Thief, none of it could begin to compare to what he was feeling now. “There is not a force in Heaven or Hell that could ever ruin this.”

* * *

“So what color is my horah?”

“That’s ‘aura’, Hanami-Chan.”

Jun had grown up healthy, taking an interest in both her mother’s powers and her father’s art. She was usually a little shy and soft-spoken, save in the company of one person: Ren and Makoto’s youngest daughter, Hanami. Seeing as the girls were born a few months apart and Hanami had similar artistic interests, the two were thick as thieves. Currently, Chihaya was driving the 6-year-olds to Yusuke’s apartment for a sleepover, the current topic of conversation being Jun’s recently-awoken ability to see peoples’ aura. Being the daughter of a fortune-teller, Jun wasn’t nearly as startled by her powers as Chihaya had been when she was a little girl, but Chihaya was still glad she had a friend to talk to about these things who didn’t treat her like a monster for it.

“Yeah, right!” Hanami said. “So what color is mine?”

“You are yellow” Jun answered.

“Ooh! I like yellow!” Hanami turned her attention to the front of the car. “Chihaya-San, is yellow a good color to be?”

“Well, there are no bad colors” Chihaya said. “From what I’ve read, a person’s aura can change colors over time. But yellow usually means happiness, so I’d say it’s a good color.”

“I’m happy all the time!” Hanami yelled.

“Exactly.”

“What color is Ryoko?” Hanami asked Jun.

“Greenish-brown” Jun said.

“What about Yoshio?”

“Red.”

“And Natsumi-Chan?”

“Orange.”

“What about your mom?”

“Hmm…” Jun couldn’t see much of Chihaya, being directly behind her in the car, but with a little focus she was able to make the outline of her mother’s aura through the back of the car seat. “It’s brown… but also a little blue.”

“What about your dad?”

“He’s pink, but…” Jun leaned in towards Hanami and whispered. “I don’t like looking at his aura. It’s scary.”

“Scary how?” Hanami whispered back.

“Most peoples’ colors are shaped like them, like an outline in a drawing.” Jun’s voice began to tremble. “But my father’s is different. It’s shaped like a monster.”

“Really!?”

“Uh-huh.” Jun nodded. “Your father too. When I saw him earlier, I looked at his aura, and there was a big scary demon.”

“Huh…” Hanami fiddled with a lock of her hair. “What if that’s just what dads’ auras are like? Maybe we should ask your mom.”

“No!” Jun shook her head frantically. “I don’t want her to be scared too! I’m going to find out the truth about my father tonight!”

“What are you two whispering about back there?” Chihaya asked.

“Secrets!” Hanami shouted.

“What kind of secrets?” The girls could make out Chihaya’s smirk in the rearview mirror.

“The secret kind!”

“Ok, ok.” Chihaya chuckled as the car came to a stop. “We’re here, girls.”

* * *

Yusuke greeted the girls with a hug, taking notice of how Jun seemed a little more reserved than usual. But before the twin-monocled man could begin to ask her what was wrong, Chihaya started making small talk, and the girls ran off to the studio space to paint as the adults conversed. After about half an hour, Yusuke bid Chihaya goodbye, heading off to the studio space to see what his charges for the weekend were up to.

“Pardon me, girls” Yusuke said as he entered the room. “I know how frustrating it can be to have the artistic process interrupted, but I wanted to know if you needed anything.”

“No thanks, Uncle Yusuke!” Hanami waved at Yusuke from behind a child-sized easel, spots of green paint on her body. “I’m good!”

“And you, Jun?” Yusuke looked to his daughter, who was much cleaner, standing on a chair to be at the same height as his own easel, painting on a larger canvas.

“No thank you” Jun mumbled.

Yusuke found himself troubled by how Jun went out of her way to avoid eye contact with him. He was used to her behaving this way around strangers and even some of his friends, but she was always much less shy around him. At this point, he was afraid that addressing this bizarre behavior directly might make the girl withdraw more into herself, and decided that the best way to get an idea fo what was wrong with her was to get a look at what she was creating.

“May I see what you girls are working on?” Yusuke asked.

“Sure!” Hanami lifted the piece of paper she’d been painting on from the easel and ran over to Yusuke, presenting it to him by holding it up above her head. “What do you think?”

Yusuke bent over, lowering his face to the painting to get a better look at it. The figure was green and lumpy, with eyes containing horizontal pupils and a large smile with a red squiggle coming from it. It took Yusuke a moment to put together, but once the painting’s subject became evident, he internally chastised himself for not realizing it immediately.

“That is a lovely frog, Hanami.”

“Nuh-uh!” Hanami shook her head.

“Am I wrong?” Yusuke tilted his head, trying to recapture the image from a new angle. “Is it not a frog?”

“It’s three frogs!” Hanami let go of one side of the painting to hold up three fingers.

“Really now?” Yusuke caught the drooping side of the painting with one hand, scanning it closely. His eyes trailed over the paper meticulously, his line of sight moving up a little bit at a time in slow horizontal lines like a printer spitting out a document. As he tried to take in every detail of Hanami’s art, he finally noticed an irregularity in the frog’s eyes. Instead of the normal sideways slits that many frogs’ pupils took the shape of, these pupils were in fact shaped like tinier frogs.

“Remarkable!” Yusuke looked back and forth between the frogs and Hanami’s proud smile. “Miniature frogs within the larger frog’s eyes! Tell me, are the three frogs meant to represent the id, ego, and super-ego, with the main frog representing how one aspect of the psyche may be in control at any time, but the eye frogs show that the other aspects are still lurking just underneath the surface?”

“Uh…” Hanami scratched her head, smearing some green paint in her hair. “It’s three frogs ‘cuz frogs are neat.”

“Yes.” Yusuke looked knowingly into Hanami’s eyes. “Frogs _are_ neat.” Yusuke gently took the painting from Hanami’s hands, making sure not to disturb the still-wet paint. “Why don’t you wash your hands and go get a snack? I just stocked up on Jagariko.”

“‘Kay!” Hanami sprinted out of the studio. “Thanks, Uncle Yusuke!”

Yusuke chuckled to himself as his favorite ‘niece’ vanished from sight, placing her latest creation back on its easel to dry. Trying to maintain the warmth in his face he’d been expressing in conversation with Hanami, he turned his focus to his own child, who was staring at him nervously from behind her canvas.

“Jun, may I see what you’re working on?” Yusuke asked.

Jun stared at Yusuke silently for a moment.

“Please?” Yusuke added.

Jun hopped down from the chair she was standing on and took a few steps back. Yusuke walked over to the chair and sat down in it to be at eye level with his daughter’s creation.

As Yusuke fixed his eyes on the canvas, his mild worry immediately escalated into an internal panic.

There were two familiar figures on the canvas. They were crude, but portrayed with more detail than the average 6-year-old child could muster. One was black with six wings, red eyes, and two sets of horns, one of which was gold. The other was slightly-more human looking, with a blue upper body, long billowing cape, wild white hair, a golden horned mask over its eyes, and a twisted blade in one hand. They weren’t perfect portrayals, but for an amateur, they were very skilled depictions of…

“Satanael and Kamu Susano-o” Yusuke muttered.

“What are they?” Jun asked.

“How did you come up with these?” Yusuke looked down at Jun fearfully. Her face was equally terrified.

“What are you?” Jun took a step back from her father.

“Jun, I am your father.” Yusuke slowly reached out to the girl, his hand going for her shoulder. “Where did you get the idea for this-“

“Are you a monster!?” Jun took another step back from Yusuke, evading his hand. She was beginning to cry. “Is Uncle Ren a monster too!? Why do you look like that, Father!?”

“What do you mean?” Yusuke lowered his hand, speaking gently. “I don’t look anything like that.”

“My eyes can see things that other people can’t.” Tears were staring to trail down Jun’s face. “Mother calls it ‘aura’. It’s like the inside of a person. Other peoples’ auras look like people, but yours doesn’t.” Jun’s voice quivered as she took another step from Yusuke. “Why don’t you look like a person!? Did you replace my father!? Are you going to replace me with a monster too!?”

“Goodness no!” Yusuke rose from the chair, and Jun covered her eyes and squeaked in fear. He wanted to approach her, but instead decided to sit on the floor. Yusuke took a deep breath and calmed himself. Although many would claim Yusuke Kitagawa lacked the sensitivity to properly respond to the emotional states of others, this did not hold true when interacting with his daughter. And so, in what others would classify as an out-of-character moment, Yusuke chose to hide his own unease and fearfulness so as not to upset his daughter further. In a low, calm voice, he spoke again. “Jun, please look at me. Look at my aura.”

Jun kept her eyes covered and shook her head.

“Jun, listen to my voice.” Yusuke’s heart pained at his own daughter being afraid of him, but he managed to maintain a calm, collected disposition. “I am your father. I love you and I am not going to hurt you. So please, look at me.”

Slowly, Jun removed her hands from her eyes, sniffling as she wiped some tears away. She stared at Yusuke, and he noticed her eyes appeared to be a slightly deeper shade of purple than usual. Yusuke pointed to the painted Kamu Susano-o over his shoulder.

“Do you see this?” Yusuke asked.

Jun nodded.

“And what is it doing?”

“Sitting” Jun said. “Just like you.”

“As it should be.” Yusuke nodded. “It’s not a monster, but it is a part of me.”

Jun had stopped crying, but she was clearly very confused, and still keeping her distance.

“Hmm…” Yusuke fiddled with his monocles, trying to figure out how to explain a Persona to a terrified child. While Jun was hardly chatty, he felt it was still too soon to tell her about the Phantom Thieves, and even if she could keep it a secret, it might be too much for her to understand at this time. He combed his memories, trying to think of a shared experience he had with his daughter that could better help him explain the shape of his aura to her. Finally, he stumbled upon something in the back of his mind that might just do the trick. “Do you remember that nature show we watched about bears last month?”

“Yes.”

“Do you recall how the mother bear looked beautiful and graceful most of the time, but when protecting her children she became vicious and scary-looking?”

Jun nodded, covering her mouth with her hands. It dawned on Yusuke that this might not be the best tactic given how scared Jun got during that part of the documentary, but this was the only thing he could think of and he didn’t have time to come up with something more tactful.

“Well, that scariness was one side of the mother bear. It was a part of her that could come out when she needed to protect the things dear to her. The figure you see when you look at my aura is something similar.”

“So…” Jun spoke timidly from behind her hands. “You’re not a monster?”

“No.” Yusuke smiled. “I’m not.”

“But you turn into one when you need to?”

“Not exactly.” Yusuke briefly imagined himself dressed as his Persona. It would perhaps make an interesting sort of self-portrait, but he mentally filed that idea away for later. “It is more like a source of power. I can borrow a monster’s strength when I need to in order to protect the things I love, but I don’t turn into one.”

“Oh.” Jun finally relaxed a little. “Can Uncle Ren do that too?”

“Yes.” Yusuke scooted a little closer to Jun. To his delight, she didn’t back away. “And if you look at the auras of Makoto, Ryuji, Ann, Haru, Futaba, and even Morgana, you’ll see that they have sides like that too.”

“Really?” Jun thought on that for a moment. The idea of Ryuji and Makoto having the strength of monsters made a lot more sense than Ren and Yusuke, but she was having trouble wrapping her head around the idea of Haru, the nicest person in the whole wide world, also having that. “Is it only you eight?”

“No.” Yusuke shook his head. “There are other adults in the world who have this power, but you don’t know them.”

“So why doesn’t everybody have that power?” Jun asked. “Does Mother not have that because she has other powers?”

“To tell you the truth, I’m not entirely sure” Yusuke said. “It’s been a very long time since I’ve had to use the power. I stopped using it a long time before you were even born, and I’ve never understood it very well.” Yusuke shrugged. “I suppose it’s just like anything special about people, like why somebody may be tall or have freckles. Some people simply do have this power.”

“Ok.” Jun had fully relaxed now, seemingly satisfied with this answer. “So what did you used to do with it, Father?”

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you that story now.”

“Why not?”

“Because I would have to talk to the others who have this power first to see if it’s ok. It’s a big secret.” Yusuke sighed. “I don’t think they’ll want me to tell you until you’re older.”

“How much older?”

“I am not certain.” Yusuke tilted his head back, looking at the ceiling. “Perhaps not until you are a teenager.”

“Oh.” Jun deflated slightly. “That’s a very long time from now.”

“Yes, it is.” Yusuke looked back at Jun. “Do you think you can wait that long?”

“I think so.”

“Good.” Yusuke smiled. “Are you ok now?”

“Yes.” Jun walked over to Yusuke and hugged him. “I’m just glad you’re not a monster.”

“Me too.” Yusuke chuckled and returned the hug. “I don’t think I would be a very good artist if I were a monster.”

The two continued hugging for a moment, and Yusuke stood up, picking Jun up with him and placing her back on the chair.

“Now then,” Yusuke said, “all of this is supposed to be a secret, so I don’t want you telling anybody else about this.”

“Not even Hanami?” Jun asked.

“Not even her” Yusuke answered. “It has to stay a secret. Can you promise me that?”

“Yes, Father.”

* * *

“Psst. Jun.”

The voice fell upon Jun’s ear in the dead of night. She had no idea how late it was, but as she stirred, she was pretty sure she had fallen asleep a while ago.

“Jun!”

Jun turned and opened her eyes, seeing the wide-awake Hanami in bed next to her.

“What is it?” Jun mumbled sleepily.

“Do you wanna go find out why your Dad’s aura is weird?” Hanami asked.

“Huh?”

“Remember? You said your Dad’s aura looked like a monster or something!”

“Oh.” Jun’s sleepy brain remembered the conversation she’d had in the car earlier, as well as her promise to her father. “I think I imagined that all. I looked at his aura again and it was normal.”

“Really?” Hanami stared at her bedmate suspiciously.

“Yes.”

“Okay!” Hanami turned away from Jun. “G’night!”

“Good night, Hanami.”

**Author's Note:**

> I had this sitting around unfinished for a while, my interest in P5 fic pretty much entirely gone.
> 
> Then the demos for the dancing games dropped and after King Crazy-ing Blooming Villain, I decided to wrap this one up.
> 
> Special shoutout goes to Tumblr user antifunequation, who asked what a child of Yusuke and Chihaya would be like while we were doing an ask meme on the AFR Universe tumblr (afruniverse.tumblr.com). We liked the idea so much we decided to make it a thing.


End file.
